Naba Barkakati's Three-Minute Videos NBTMV

Assessing impact of using facial recognition technology

2012-02-28T02:00:00.000-05:00

In a previous video I talked about the importance of assessing the impact of technology before adopting it. Today I want to talk to you about the impact of increased use of facial recognition technology. You may have already heard about the use of facial recognition technology to detect the mix of male and female customers at bars. Facial recognition technology is also used to identify people on the street or in a crowd.

Facial recognition is what is known as biometrics, which is identification of people from some features of their body such as fingerprint, iris pattern, or facial characteristics. No matter what biometrics we pick, if you stop and think about it for a moment, you would realize that your fingerprint or facial image does not come with your name stamped on it. Rather, somewhere in a computer system your facial image and your name are linked together. That linkage between your name and your facial image must be correct to begin with and the information must be stored securely.

Additionally, facial recognition systems are not error-free and there is a potential for misidentification.

So, as much as facial recognition is useful, it is not error-free. Therefore, you need some protection when the facial recognition technology misidentifies you as someone else. You need some way of correcting the mistake.

There is also the potential of someone trying to fool a facial recognition system by presenting, for example, a photograph or a video of you as your face. Something has to be done to detect such misuse and not accept a photograph as substitute for a face. It’s not easy to overcome this problem because facial recognition system identifies people from photographs or videos.

This means that if you are using facial recognition technology to identify customers or perhaps suspected criminals, you have to make sure that appropriate security precautions are in place to protect the linkage between a person’s facial image and their identity information and that the information is correct in the first place. You must also provide some sort of recourse when someone is misidentified.

Here's some more information to help you...

You may find my previous videos on technology impact assessment and biometric technology helpful:

NBTMV - On the need to assess impact of technology...

NBTMV on using biometric technologies to identify ...

How to lose weight - a story to motivate you

2012-02-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

If you want to lose weight, here's a story to help and motivate you.

I always knew that good food with fewer calories and exercise are important to manage your weight, but when he was young did not follow this advice. My diet included lots of rice and very little exercise. So, over many years, bit by bit, I gained weight. When I was 44, my weight was over 200 pounds. Around this time, I had a stroke of good luck. My youngest daughter wanted to run in a 5K race and asked me to run with her. I agreed and started running on the treadmill to get ready for the race. Soon I was running five kilometers in less than 30 minutes ans was so proud that I could run five kilometers!

At the same time, I saw a TV show where a doctor discussed how to improve your diet. He said it is important to eat plenty of vegetables, fish and white meat. I changed my diet after watching that program. I substituted rice in my diet with green leafy vegetables. For breakfast and lunch I ate vegetable and chicken (or fish) soup. For dinner, I ate salads with fish and grilled salmon (but without any dressing). But I made sure that I ate the same volume of food as before, so I was not hungry even though I was eating salads instead of rice. By the way, I also started drinking black tea instead of coffee with milk and sugar.

So, overall, I made two changes at the same time: started doing more exercises and reduced the calorie intake (because the veggies had less calories than rice). The body responded by losing weight. Within a few weeks I lost over 30 pounds. I really liked this because I could see the results very soon. I could also continue the program of diet and exercise because I was not hungry. I really felt better than I ever felt before.

Even though I have been continuing this program since 2003, my weight has gone up some. Over the past eight years, I have gained weight about 8 pounds. But it’s still a great way to lose weight and manage your health. When I think why the weight has gone up despite maintaining about the same diet and exercise, all I can think is that the body has a mind of its own and it fights your attempts to lose weight.

If you are thinking about trying to lose weight, I recommend that you make two changes in your life: start an exercise program and change your diet by replacing carbohydrates with veggies. Stop eating too much rice or pasta and eat a lot of salads with fish (or chicken) but skip the dressing .Remember that to succeed you should eat the same amount of food as you ate before making these changes because it is very important to not be hungry. Good luck!

Here's some more information to help you...

You may find my previous video on weight loss helpful:

To lose weight, think of the human body as a syste...

Cómo perder peso

2012-02-17T02:00:00.000-05:00

Si quieres perder el peso, aquí está una historia para ayudarte y motivarte.

Siempre sabía que buena alimentación con menos calorias y ejercicios eran importantes para manejar su peso, pero cuando era joven no seguía este consejo. Comía mucho arroz y hacía poco ejercicios. Así que, hace muchos años, poco a poco, me gané peso. Cuando tenía 44 años, pesaba más de 200 libras. Al rededor de este tiempo, fue una buena suerte que mi hija menor queria correr en una carrera de cinco kilometros y me pidió aue la acompañara. Estaba de acuerdo a correr con mi hija y empecé a correr en la cinta para estar listo. Muy pronto estaba corriendo cinco kilometros en menos que 30 minutos. Estaba orgulloso de poder correr bastante rapído como eso.

Al mismo tiempo, ví un programa de televisión donde un doctor discutió comó mejorar su dieta. Se dijo que es importante para comer muchas verduras, pescado, y carne blanco. Decidí cambiar mi dieta despues de ver ese programa. Sustituí arroz in mi dieta con verduras de hoja verde. Para el desayuno y para el almuerzo comía sopa de verduras y pollo. Para la cena, comía las verduras con pescado como el salmón a la parilla. Es como una ensalada sin aderoso. La comida tenía el mismo volumen como antes de cambiar la dieta. Asi que no tenía hambre a pesar de que comía verduras en lugar de arroz.

Así que hice dos cambios al mismo tiempo, hacer mas ejercicios y reducir las calorias de comidas. El cuerpo respondió con la perdida de peso. En unas semanas perdí más de 30 libras. Me gustó mucho porque pude ver los resultados en poco tiempo. Podía continuar el programa de dieta y ejercicio porque no tenía hambre. De verdad me sentía mejor que antes.

Aunque continuaba esta programa desde 2003 el peso se sube un poco. En los últimos ocho años el peso aumentó 7 u 8 libras. Sin embargo este ha sido un buen método para perder peso y manejar tu salud. Cuando pienso en porque el peso sube a pesar de las mismas dietas y ejercicios, creo que el cuerpo tiene una mente propia y lucha contra de bajar el peso.

Todavia si no trata de manejar el peso, te recomiendo que hagas dos cambios en tu vida: comienza un programa de ejercicio y al mismo tiempo cambia tu dieta reduciendo los carbohidratos. Deja de comer demasiado arroz o tortillas y come mucho ensaladas con pescado (o pollo) pero sin aderoso. Recuerda que para tener éxito debes comer el mismo volumen de comida que comías antes de hacer estos cambios porque es muy importante no tener hambre.

NBTMV on using biometric technologies to identify people

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Biometric technologies use specific features of your body such as fingerprint, facial image, iris pattern, or even the geometry of your hand, to identify you. Assessing the impact of using biometrics depend on the exact type of use. If your laptop has a fingerprint reader where you swipe your finger to log in, then all we may need to worry about is the possibility that the system somehow could not match your fingerprint with what was previously stored in the system, in which case, there should be some alternate method for logging into the laptop.

On the other hand, if biometric technology such as facial recognition is used to identify a person from among millions in a database, then we have to think about many more things.

For starters, you know that your fingerprint or facial image or iris pattern do not come with your name stamped on the it, which means that some computer system has to store your identifying information with your biometric features. That association must be correct when it’s initially stored (meaning that your biometrics are linked to your identifying information) and the information must be securely stored and maintained.

Next, we have to consider the potential of errors in the system that compares and matches your biometric features such as your fingerprint or your facial image with information stored in a database. There is a possibility of misidentification where someone else’s biometric may be identified as yours or vice versa. This means that we need to provide some redress mechanism for anyone who is misidentified. This is especially important if the biometric is being used to look for a criminal, for example, and you are mistakenly tagged as that criminal.

Another potential problem is when someone intentionally tries to fool the system by presenting, for example, a photograph of you as that your facial image.

These are among some of the issues that we need to consider when assessing the impact of using biometric technologies to identify people.

Here's some more information to help you...

In 2002 GAO had published the following report that assesses use of biometric technologies for improving border security:

GAO-03-174, Nov 15, 2002

There are a number of books on biometric technologies as well:

Cloud security from a user’s point of view

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

As more and more of us begin to rely on cloud services, security is definitely one of the topmost concerns on our mind. From the user’s perspective, whether it’s an individual or an organization, cloud security translates to protecting the information that you’re storing on the cloud. You want the information to be available when you want it, and not be shared with anyone that you don’t want to share with, and make sure that nobody changes that inform ation without your permission or knowledge.

When you use cloud services the cloud provider has a lot of responsibilities for security, but you also share the responsibility of making sure that your login information is secure and you use any security features that are available to you. For example, if the cloud provider offers 2-step verification, as Google does, then you must make sure that you turn on this extra security feature.

As a user, you know that the same cloud services are used by many other users, so you definitely want your cloud service to offer good walls between you and your neighbors so that information cannot maliciously or inadvertently be shared with your neighbors. You’d also want the cloud provider to back up your information and protect it from loss due to technical or natural disasters.

In a nutshell, cloud security is a shared responsibility, where you take care of using all the security features available to you for the login process and the provider carries a much larger burden of protecting your information from other users as well as from outsiders. in particular you’d expect the cloud provider to employ the best security personnel available, follow the latest security procedures, and adopt the latest technology to keep users separate from each other and to keep any outside attackers away from your information. From my perspective, I think this is what users expect from cloud security.

Here's some more information to help you...

For my earlier videos on cloud security, please see:

Cloud computing from a user’s point of view

Why public cloud

What are some of the risks of Cloud Computing

Why you should consider cloud computing as an opti...

What is Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing from the perspective of IT Convergence

2012-01-14T14:24:00.001-05:00

(Rules are meant to be broken.... so here's a video that's not 3 minutes, but almost 30 minutes long... for you to peruse when you have some time :-)

Here are the slides to follow along as you watch the video or just browse and read the transcript of the talk...

Naba barkakati it solutions for new business - keynote - kisdi-global-conference 2010

View more presentations from Naba Barkakati

Good afternoon!

First, I wanted to thank our host — the Korea Information Society Development Institute —for inviting me to deliver this session keynote and moderate a session at this conference. I am honored to have this opportunity to address this distinguished audience.

In the next half an hour, I hope to provide a unique perspective on some innovative information technology (IT) solutions for businesses — solutions that are enabled, in general, by “convergence”, and specifically, by the convergence of IT and the network infrastructure.

The uniqueness of my perspective comes from over 30 years of experience I have had in the ICT sector and my U.S. government policy perspective — having worked the past 13 years as a Technologist at the U.S. Government Accountability Office or GAO, where we review IT systems and solutions at U.S. government agencies. These government IT solutions are now beginning to take advantage of the convergence that’s the focus of this conference. So I hope that perspective would be helpful to you as you think of future directions for IT.

When we talk about “digital convergence,” we are referring to what Nicholas Negroponte of MIT’s Media Lab called the transformation of "atoms to bits," the conversion of everything from voice, video, TV, etc. into digital information flow across platforms on the Internet or any IP—Internet Protocol—network. The network includes IT systems of varying sizes and functions from network devices to back-end servers that store and process the digital information.

Nowadays we see the results of this convergence in our daily lives — particularly in smartphones or other smart devices that you can use to browse the web, make phone calls, take pictures, shoot video, provide a Wi-Fi hotspot for other devices to connect to the Internet, and much more — these are the technologies that are moving all of us towards ubiquitous computing and connectivity, where information processing is integrated into everyday objects and activities.

Let’s start by taking stock of what facilitated and continues to drive this convergence.

To understand what facilitated this convergence, we have to look at some recent history. The idea is to learn from history and shape the future for continued innovations in IT convergence.

Let’s begin in the 1990s, when Sun Microsystems trademarked the phrase: "The Network Is the Computer." That’s as good a point in time as any, to think of as the beginning of the convergence.

When Sun coined that phrase, the conditions were just right for computing and networking technologies to make that claim — that the network is a force-multiplier for computing. Computing power was growing exponentially since the first microprocessors appeared in late 1970s — and continues to do so— following the trend described by Moore’s Law.

And with the Internet we had the ability to connect TCP/IP networks to one another. Best of all the TCP/IP networks were architected using a “layered model,” based on the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model that dates back to the late 1970s.

The layered model is a conceptual breakthrough — in this model, information always flows from one layer to the next. For example, when an application sends data to another application, the data go down through the layers at the transmitting end and then up from the Physical layer to the Application at the receiving end. And each layer has its own set of protocols for handling and formatting the data.

The benefit of the layered model is that each layer takes care of only its specific task, leaving the rest to the other layers. The layers can mix and match. That’s why TCP/IP networks can work over any type of physical network medium, from Ethernet to radio waves (in a wireless network). Also, each layer can be implemented in different modules. For example, typically the transport and network layers already exist as part of the operating system, and any application can make use of these layers without having to include them in the application. Each layer can also innovate and change independently of other layers.

The bottom line is that the layered networking model greatly facilitated interconnections among different computer systems and software applications that could easily communicate with one another. And, as I will explain a little later, the layered model comes up in other contexts as well, for example, in another key driver of convergence—virtualization. The layered model also comes up in discussions of telecom regulations such as those relating to “network neutrality.”

So we have the computing power, a versatile network architecture as drivers, but another key driver was the emergence of the World Wide Web in mid-1990s, which, through Web servers, Web browsers, and other standards such as HTML and HTTP, enabled delivery of information from anywhere in the Internet to any device.

Last, but not the least, in the U.S., there was an additional driver—this one is regulatory—The Telecommunications Act of 1996—this was the first major overhaul of telecommunications law in the United States in almost 62 years. In a nutshell, the goal of the 1996 Act was to let anyone enter any telecommunications business and to let any telecommunications business compete in any market against any other. The 1996 Act also directed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to encourage the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability, which includes broadband, to all Americans. FCC classified broadband Internet access (regardless of the platform) as an information service — a classification that reduced regulatory requirements.

The 1996 Act was meant to foster “intramodal” competition — among companies that used the same underlying technology such as local and long distance wireline carriers and new competitive local exchange carriers, all of which were offering voice services over circuit-switched networks.

What the 1996 telecom act did not foresee was the “intermodal” competition that came about—for example, wireless service competing with both local and long distance wireline service, VoIP competing with wireline and wireless telephony, IP video competing with cable television. In any case, in the U.S., we now have intermodal competition between bundles of services (voice, Internet, and TV) provided by either telecom or cable TV service. The end result has been growth in broadband Internet access to U.S. homes, primarily through wireline services.

All in all, the technological factors—exponential growth in computing power at lower cost, universal TCP/IP network connectivity afforded by the Internet—combined with the U.S. telecom regulations enabling competition, and attendant growth in broadband Internet access, fueled the growth of Internet businesses and digital convergence in the U.S.

Many well-known Internet companies representing different business models began during these early years of digital convergence, for example—online commerce: Amazon.com (1994), online auction: eBay (1995), search engines: Yahoo! (1995), Google (1998), and, more recently, social networking: Facebook (2004) and many more…

By now, these business models are well-known and most businesses know to set up an online presence and pay attention to things like “search engine optimization (SEO)” — the process of improving the visibility of a web site in search engines, which is an Internet market strategy.

But recent developments in IT and network convergence take us beyond the routine Internet strategies to new business solutions.

Many service providers have now built large data centers that, coupled with virtualization, gives rise to the convergence of IT and network infrastructure. And this brings us the concept of computing in the cloud or “cloud computing,” where the term “cloud” refers the Internet because we typically depict the Internet as a cloud in network diagrams.

Before going any further, let me bring in the layered model again to first explain the concept of virtualization.

Virtualization refers to the creation of multiple virtual machines that can run on a single physical system. In this case, the layered model starts with the physical hardware and the physical peripheral devices —processor, memory, disk drive, and network interface — on top of which we have a virtual representation of these hardware devices. In the next higher layer, we have virtual machines, each with its own internal layers of operating system and multiple applications. And each operating system can be different from one another. So, we end up with one physical server supporting multiple different virtual machines of different types.

The combination of virtualization with the large data centers at the Internet core give us the latest trend of “cloud computing” — where a business pays a service provider to deliver IT applications, computing power, and storage via the Internet. This enables businesses to access and share computer resources and potentially gain significant cost savings. Businesses with heavy demands for computing power, such as banks, could easily acquire huge processing capabilities on demand by processing data across large groups of servers.

Cloud computing has three commonly accepted service models: infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, and software as a service (see figure on slide).

Notice the boxes in the drawing — the different models depend on that box showing what the cloud computing vendor offers versus what the user (business) provides.

Infrastructure as a service provides various infrastructure components such as hardware, storage, and other fundamental computing resources.

Platform as a service provides a service that runs over an underlying infrastructure. A platform vendor offers a ready-to-use platform, such as an operating system like Microsoft Windows or Linux, which runs on vendor-provided infrastructure. Customers can build applications on a platform using application development frameworks, middleware capabilities, and functions such as databases.

Software as a service runs on an underlying platform and infrastructure managed by the vendor and provides a self-contained operating environment used to deliver a complete application such as Web-based e-mail and related management capabilities.

A side note: although cloud computing has gained popularity recently, the concept of “software as service” is not new — for example, Salesforce.com began offering their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application as a service in 2007.

In addition to the service models that describe what can be provided, there are four deployment models that relate to how the cloud service is implemented. These four cloud models are private, community, public, and hybrid (see figure on slide).

In a private cloud, the service is set up specifically for one organization, although there may be multiple customers within that organization, and the cloud may exist on or off the premises.

In a community cloud, the service is set up for related organizations that have similar requirements.

A public cloud is available to any paying customer and is owned and operated by the service provider.

A hybrid cloud is a composite of the deployment models.

U.S. government agencies are beginning to consider and, in some cases, start using cloud computing services. In 2010, about half of the 24 U.S. government agencies reported using some form of cloud computing for infrastructure, platform, or software services.
Examples:
Defense Department’s Rapid Access Computing Environment or RACE program (2008) provides “platform as a service” to support defense department’s systems development efforts within a private cloud.

NASA’s Nebula is an open-source cloud computing project that provides an “infrastructure as a service” implementation for scientific data and Web-based applications, with everything housed in a standard shipping container that is mounted in place, but could be transported if needed.

Department of Transportation’s CARS program used a public cloud for part of its system — this was a program that allowed owners of certain less fuel-efficient vehicles to receive a credit for trading in a vehicle and purchasing or leasing a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle (this was part of the recent stimulus program).

Also, Google is offering Google Apps for Government where the data generated by the government's use of Gmail and calendaring applications will be segregated from everybody else's “cloud-based” data on servers located in the continental U.S.

So, to reiterate, the convergence of IT with the network infrastructure brings large-scale computing and storage capabilities that can now be provided over the Internet, giving us cloud computing… this has the potential to make computing a service similar to other public utilities such as electricity, water, gas etc.

Cloud computing, whether in a private cloud or in the public Internet, provides new IT solutions for businesses.

Here’s an example:

Businesses can run applications off of servers that are located remotely in the Internet — this would be an example of “software as a service”.

There are some good reasons why businesses may use applications in the cloud:

* Applications on the cloud are always ready to go. You can simply sign up for a service (such as email or office productivity applications) and begin using them without having to go through the time, cost and management expense of setting up and running your own servers with the applications.

* You can use the applications from anywhere - - cloud applications are typically web-based applications and with these you are not tied to a specific computer. This means that you can run the applications at your office, at home, from your laptop while on the road, and even via a Web-enabled smartphones, all with full access to all your data and resources.

* You get the benefits of the economies of scale because the cloud computing resources are shared among many. You get to use services of large data centers that have multiple Internet connections, backup electric power, and security and redundancy. Virtualization enables these service providers to build massive computing infrastructures with low cost per CPU cycle. Software developers can share applications among millions of users, lowering per-user cost. For example, a CRM application like Salesforce.com could easily cost many thousands of dollars a month to purchase, install, and maintain, but anyone can sign up for Salesforce.com for $125 per month.

*You get the benefit fault-tolerance and redundancy that service providers build into their systems — something that most small businesses will never be able to match. Cloud computing is often more reliable than the networks run by small companies who cannot afford the benefit of redundant electric power, hot backup systems, as well as specialized management software and expertise in data center operations.

* You can easily add computing resources in a cloud model. As your company adds employees, you can purchase more computing resources from the cloud provider. Similarly, when no longer needed, you can as easily reduce the user or server count and the resulting monthly expenses.

* You can pay for cloud services as you go. Typically you buy cloud services via monthly payments instead of a large up-front payment. This enables growing companies conserve cash for other investments and for growing their business operations.

What are some of the issues with cloud computing? In our work with U.S. government agencies, we identified information security as an area of concern. We found that cloud computing can both increase and decrease the security of information systems in federal agencies. Potential information security benefits come from the use of virtualization and automation, which can enable rapid implementation of secure configurations for virtual machines.

However, the use of cloud computing can also create information security risks for federal agencies. Specifically, 22 of 24 major U.S. federal agencies reported that they are either concerned or very concerned about the potential information security risks associated with cloud computing. These concerns include risks related to dependence on the vendor and concerns related to sharing computing resources. Agencies also identified challenges and concerns in implementing existing federal information security laws and guidance. These concerns include limitations on their ability to conduct independent audits and assessments of security controls of cloud computing service providers and concerns related to the division of information security responsibilities between customer and vendor.

We expect that specific U.S. government agencies will develop guidance related to cloud computing security to help other agencies.

Cloud computing is a back-end IT solution for new businesses, but the innovation in convergence is most visible at the user/customer end. Wireless connectivity has been the driver for this. Wireless activity continues to grow rapidly, moving us towards the ubiquitous computing that has long been predicted. Based on industry data, as of December 2009, the wireless penetration rate was 91 percent in the United States.

Additionally, the number of adults living in U.S. households with only wireless telephone service has increased from less than 5 percent in 2003 to nearly 23 percent in 2009. According to one study of wireless use, wireless connections in California now exceed the combined connections of both wireline and broadband services.

The implication for a business is that many of your customers/clients now have powerful devices that enable them to access your services that may be hosted on the cloud. Smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy S and Apple iPhone support applications that can be tailored to work with specific back-end services, so businesses can gain an advantage by providing smartphone apps for to their customers.

In the few minutes I have left, I’d like to close with recent focus on telecom regulations and convergence in the U.S.

In the United States, Congressional policymakers think that additional regulations are needed to address the changing telecom environment. Because of the growing convergence in the telecom sector, many policymakers consider it necessary to "rewrite," or revise the laws governing these markets.

Whether regulators should play a role to ensure that the Internet remains open to all, often referred to as "open access" or "net neutrality," has also become part of the dialogue.

As a segue at this point, I’d like to point out that the layered network model comes into play in discussions of net neutrality — for example, advocates of net neutrality point out that trying to affect the physical transport of bits based on application type violates the separation of layers in the network model.

Recent events in net neutrality debate: FCC ruling on Comcast overturned, Google and Verizon proposal for a legislative framework that proposes neutrality for wired broadband, but excludes wireless for now.

Spectrum and National Broadband Plan - - Another crucial component in the telecommunications policy debate is the allocation and regulation of radio-frequency spectrum. The private sector is developing an increasing appetite for wireless communications services such as high-speed access to the Internet and digital television broadcasts that require lots of spectrum. The public sector also requires spectrum for a number of uses, including voice and data support for emergency communications. The challenge is to meet both the public and private sector needs for usable spectrum.

FCC auctions off licenses for wireless spectrum, but the challenge to find open bands of spectrum.

In March 2010, FCC published the National Broadband Plan http://www.broadband.gov/plan/ , which outlines policies and actions intended to ensure that everyone in the United States have high-speed Internet access. The plan’s long-term goals include ensuring at least 100 million U.S. homes have access to affordable broadband services with speeds of 100 megabits per second and enabling citizens to use broadband services to track energy consumption.

One of the linchpins of the National Broadband Plan is reallocating or crafting new sharing arrangements for a large amount of spectrum currently designated for use by federal agencies and commercial services, which are licensed by the FCC and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), respectively. In a July 2010 memorandum President Obama directed the FCC and NTIA to complete by Oct 1, 2010 a specific plan and timetable for identifying 500 megahertz of spectrum that over the next 10 years could be used for wireless broadband services.

A recent development is the Sep 24, 2010 announcement by FCC approving the use of unused airwaves in the broadcast TV spectrum for unlicensed mobile broadband operations. These “whitespaces” were freed up after the U.S. transitioned from analog to digital TV broadcasting. The freed up white spaces will be open to all users and do not require a license.

The expectation is that the new spectrum will be used in new consumer devices with wireless capabilities that have both longer range and greater bandwidth than current Wi-Fi solutions—the technology has been referred to as “super Wi-Fi” because of its improved bandwidth and ability to more easily penetrate buildings. This is the biggest block of spectrum space freed up by FCC in the last two decades.

So I’d leave you with the note that we have some interesting developments and some uncertainties with potential new laws in the U.S.

Bottom line: we have made progress, but we’re not there yet - - witness the broadband penetration chart for the top few countries…

So the journey continues…

NBTMV - update on video recording setup, now with Sony Alpha NEX-3 and external mic

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

In this video I provide an update on my video recording setup at home. For the last few months, I have been using the same setup, recording the videos with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 digital camera, which has been performing very well but that it doesn’t have an external microphone input and I thought I could improve the sound quality of the video recording by using a camera with an external microphone so I began searching and I found this website called snapsort.com where you can put in various features that you want in the camera for example external microphone, low light sensitivity, a small form factor, specific price points, etc. and the site recommends cameras mathing the features you want. When I put everything I wanted, snapsort.com showed Sony Alpha NEX-3 as a top choice. I checked it out on amazon.com and they had a good price for a Sony Alpha NEX-3 with a 16mm wide-angle lens, so I bought it along with an external microphone (model Sony ECM-SST1) for recording my videos. Here are some photos of the camera and the camera on a tripod in my video recording setup.

Sony Alpha NEX-3 with external stereo microphone (front view)

Sony Alpha NEX-3 with external stereo microphone (back view)

Sony Alpha NEX-3 with ECM-SST1 external mic mounted on tripod for video recording

Other than the new camera with external microphone, the rest of the video recording setup is the same with three-point lighting system and a black muslin sheet as background.

I recorded this video with the new setup and I think it does sound better with the external microphone. You can judge for yourself by comparing this video with previous ones.

Here's some more information to help you...

Here are links to the camera and external microphone and some accessories:

NBTMV - Ideas for new year’s resolution 2012

2012-01-06T07:30:00.000-05:00

Happy new year. I bought a Sony Alpha NEX-3 camera with an external stereo microphone and I’m recording this first video of 2012 using that camera. I hope this video sounds better than my old videos recorded without an external microphone.

It’s early enough in the new year that there’s still time for you to make some new year’s resolutions and follow through on them. Here are three ideas for new year’s resolutions, for each of which I have videos and other information in my blog.

The first idea has to do with managing your body weight. What with all the food and celebrations during the holidays leading up to the new year, your weight and fitness must be at the top of your mind. I had taken some steps in 2003 to lose over 30 lbs by thinking of my body as a system with food and exercise as input and the weight as the output. I got good results by simultaneously changing my diet (less carbohydrate, more veggies) and increasing the level of exercise. I have more information about this in a previous video.

The second idea for new year’s resolution would be to learn a new language. With all the Spanish-speaking population here in the United States, learning to speak Spanish is an ideal choice. I took the plunge over two years ago and used a 3-step approach to start speaking Spanish -- (1) Listen and Repeat, (2) Listen and Understand, and (3) Start Speaking. You can learn more about my method from some earlier videos.

And last, but not the least, if you are empty-nesters like us and you're considering picking up traveling abroad, then I have a number of videos where I talk about strategies for starting your world travels. I think you’ll find it worthwhile to consider starting your travels with some guided tours, followed by exploring cities on your own, and finally renting apartments in a city and doing everything on your own.

Those are some of the ideas for new year’s resolutions. I hope you pick one or more of these, consult my videos, and follow through on your new year’s resolutions. Good luck!

NBTMV - Step 3 of Learning Spanish is to Start Speaking

2011-12-22T02:00:00.000-05:00

As you know from my previous videos, I have been using a 3-step process for learning to speak Spanish: (1) Listen and Repeat, (2) Listen and Understand, and (3) Start Speaking (and as I have said, you also have to study vocabulary and grammar along the way).

For me, the “start speaking” step was easier said than done and it may be the same for you. Even though I gained some basic Spanish speaking capability from my “Listen and Repeat” step using the Pimsleur method, I had the usual fear of making silly mistakes if I were to speak Spanish. Also, I was not sure of many Spanish words and verbs, even though I had already completed the “Listen and Understand” step by watching a free online streaming video program called Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish and by listening to Spanish radio stations during my daily commute.

After spending about a year completing the first two steps, I researched on the Internet and found that many people take immersion classes to start speaking Spanish. After some searching, I located a well-regarded school -- Christian Spanish Academy or CSA (if I were advising them, I’d have suggested that they keep their Spanish name Academia Cristiana de Español and abbreviate it to ACE in English :-) in Antigua Guatemala and enrolled there for a week in early 2010. For the total cost of $400 USD, I had 8-hours of one-on-one lessons each day plus a week of home stay with a very nice host family with three meals.

CSA follows a structured program. I was given an exam and placed in Grade B (they have grades A through G). That week of immersion got me started speaking Spanish even though I still had not gone beyond the present and the past tenses for the verb conjugations. To continue building my skills, I have been taking a two-hour class every Saturday from CSA’s e-learning program via Skype. I am now in Grade C, but, even though I still have lots of grammar to learn, the week of immersion study in Antigua, Guatemala definitely helped kick-start the process of starting to speak in Spanish for me. You may want to consider something similar to get going with your “Step 3: Start Speaking” :-)

Here's some more information to help you...

For my previous videos on the 3-step method for learning Spanish and the details of the first two steps, see:

NBTMV on Learning Spanish (Especially Speaking)

NBTMV - To learn Spanish, start by listening and r...

NBTMV - Step 2 in learning Spanish is to Listen an...

I have lots of information about books as well as photo with my host family in the blog post with an overview of the 3-step method. Here are

Naba Barkakati with Chris Morales (host)

Dinner with host family and other students (photo by Michael Herpy)

Photo by Michael Herpy - at dinner in host family's kitchen

Here are a few photos of Antigua, Guatemala (it's a very beautiful city):

Antgua - near the central park

Antigua - around central park

View of Antigua from a hill nearby

Volcan Fuego near Antigua, Guatemala

NBTMV - On the need to assess impact of technology before adopting it

2011-12-14T02:00:00.000-05:00

It’s important to assess the impact of technology before using it either in a product or for your or your organization’s use (for that matter, for the nation’s use as well).

Let’s start with an example. Suppose you are a cell phone manufacturer and you decide to capture all user actions so that you can “debug” -- fix problems -- when something goes wrong and also improve performance when you see some parts of the system not performing to expectation. Capturing user actions is a perfectly valid approach to this need, but, if you did not inform the users upfront, they’d probably be concerned about privacy and security of the collected information.

As another example, suppose we promote production of ethanol from corn as a fuel and as a way to reduce dependence on fossil fuel. However, corn is also used as food and as cattle feed. What if there is impact on food prices and cattle feed because corn is diverted from these uses to ethanol production.

One way to avoid such problems is to conduct a technology impact analysis (or technology impact assessment) up front. The framework is fairly straightforward. You consider the technology for some intended use. Now, before you adopt the technology, think of all the unintended consequences, which are usually not good. These are foreseen, but uncertain, and, therefore, “risks.” If you think of them up front, you can then take action to either mitigate these risks or decide to accept them.

In the case of the cell phone example, if this was done, the cell phone manufacturer could have foreseen the privacy and security risks and acted beforehand by informing the users about the intended use of the information being captured and letting them opt in, if they so desired.

In summary, it’s important to assess the impact of technology before deciding to incorporate it in a product or adopting it for your or your organization’s use. Proactively doing an impact assessment could save you lots of headaches and, not to mention, potential negative consequences later on.

Here's some more information to help you...

The following book covers similar ideas and may be interesting to check out:

NBTMV - Step 2 in learning Spanish is to Listen and Understand

2011-12-12T19:30:00.000-05:00

I have been using a 3-step process for learning to speak Spanish: (1) Listen and Repeat, (2) Listen and Understand, and (3) Start Speaking (of course, you also have to study vocabulary and grammar along the way). For the Listen and Repeat step, if you use the Pimsleur method, as I did, then you’d have already learned the basics -- Spanish pronunciation, alphabet, numbers, days of the week, and so on and you would be speaking some Spanish already.

However to get ready for conversations in Spanish, you need to complete the next step -- Listen and Understand Spanish so that you can understand when someone talks to you. I started this second step by watching a free online streaming video program called Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish that’s essentially a telenovela with 52 episodes, each 30 minutes long. I watched all 52 episodes twice and only then I could begin to understand them comfortably.

Next, I began listening to a local Spanish radio station on my commute to work. And, when possible, began watching TV programs on Telemundo or Univision.

When you first begin listening with the intention of trying to understand, you’ll found it difficult to keep up, as I did, but just keep at it and slowly you’ll begin to understand more. Although the basics you learned in Step 1 should get you going, you should also study some vocabulary on the side. I read Mastering Spanish Vocabulary to expand my vocabulary. That attempt also got me started with reading Spanish and I realized how easy it is to read in Spanish -- you just say words as they are written (you know what I mean if you try to read Fench :-)

By now, I can speak some Spanish, but I still have more grammar to learn and, even now, I cannot fully follow along when people speak fast on the radio. But the main point is that by first devoting time to listening and repeating and then spending tons of time listening and understanding, I was able to get to the point where I could begin speaking Spanish. I’m sure you can do the same with my method for learning to speak Spanish.

Here's some more information to help you...

For my previous videos on the 3-step method for learning Spanish and the details of the first step, see:

NBTMV on Learning Spanish (Especially Speaking)

NBTMV - To learn Spanish, start by listening and r...

To watch the Destinos streaming video, visit the Annenburg Media web page at: http://learner.org/resources/series75.html and click the VoD (video on demand) link to the right of an episode.

Here's the vocabulary book I found useful:

Managing your Google+ stream

2011-12-09T02:00:00.000-05:00

If you are a typical Google+ user, it’s either “famine or feast” when it comes to your Google+ stream. When you first join, the stream is in a “famine” stage with new posts appearing few and far in between. Perhaps all you have are your posts and those from members of your family who reluctantly joined Google+ at your urging even though they’re already on Facebook :-)

It’s easy to get out of the “famine” once you realize that you can add other interesting people to your circles even if they don’t add you to theirs. Plus there are Google+ Pages from organizations that you may want to follow. At this point you get a healthy number of posts in your Google+ stream. You probably read most of them, comment on some, and even feel great in having a discourse with others of similar interest.

Soon some others see your public posts as well, like them, and start adding you to their circles and, assuming you have similar interests, you reciprocate. Before you know it, you can get to perhaps 100+ people in your circles. This is when things get tricky. Some of the people in your circles are going to be more prolific than others and now your stream has way too many posts. You can hardly keep up. Now you are in the “feast” stage of your Google+ stream and, if you are like me, you probably don’t like it because it’s now hard to keep up, let alone provide thoughtful comments.

If this is your situation, don’t give up, just “Use the Circles” and Prioritize. First, arrange everyone judiciously in circles. Instead of lumping people into a few large circles, subdivide into smaller circles according whatever is important to you. Then, check the postings of only the circles that you care about, by clicking those circles one at a time.

For example, now I focus primarily on my Family circle and a small "Professional Connections" circle, otherwise, it gets to be too much. I also apply the rule that "real life trumps Google+ or anything virtual on the Internet" and that family is the highest priority. With these simple rules, life is good again and I still love Google+ :-)

Here's some more information to help you...

I described why I love Google+ in an earlier blog post:

Why I love Google+

You should turn on 2-step verification for your Google+ account, here's how:

NBTMV - Turn on 2-step verification on your Google...

NBTMV - To learn Spanish, start by listening and repeating

2011-12-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

In an earlier video I described my method for learning Spanish: (1) Listen and Repeat, (2) Listen to Understand, and (3) Start Speaking. In this video, I elaborate on what I did for my “Listen and Repeat” step, where I simply listened to a native Spanish speaker and repeated as requested, without knowing any Spanish grammar or how to write in Spanish.

I followed the Pimsleur method for this, primarily because they provide the lessons on CDs and I could listen to the CDs and repeat loudly during my morning commute. Each lesson is 30 minutes long. The instructor gave directions in English asking me to listen and repeat in a conversational voice whatever was being asked of me -- repeat words, respond to question, all in Spanish, of course. And that’s the main point -- you repeat as closely as possible what a native Spanish speaker says. Here’s an example from the first CD where a man and a woman converse:

-- Perdon, señorita. ¿Entiende ingles?

-- No, señor. No entiendo ingles. Hablo español.

-- Hablo un poco español.

The lessons really make sure you get the pronunciation... for example, for “Per-don,” the instructor says “don” and “per”, with rolling “r” and then put together “per-don.” Similarly for “señor,” “español,” and “ingles.”

Pimsleur suggests that you do one lesson a day, but you can repeat that lesson. I did one lesson a day and, taking into account weekends and holidays etc., finished the 90 lessons of Pimsleur Spanish I, II, and III in 6 months. These lessons gave me a good start with Spanish pronunciation and basic vocabulary, but I still couldn’t converse in Spanish. I was afraid and often couldn’t understand the question. So I had to continue to “Listen and Understand” Spanish, learn vocabulary and grammar, and “Begin Speaking.”

Now I can speak some Spanish, but I still need to learn a lot more grammar. Nevertheless, by “listening and repeating” I was speaking right from the start and that kept me motivated.

If you are thinking about learning Spanish, you should definitely start with lessons where you “listen and repeat” what a native speaker says.

Here's some more information to help you...

You can find links to Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone Spanish lessons in my previous blog:

NBTMV on Learning Spanish (Especially Speaking)

I even made a video in Spanish explaining my method for learning a new language, you can view on this blog post:

Cómo aprender un idioma nuevo

To lose weight, think of the human body as a system, but with a mind of its own

2011-12-02T02:00:00.000-05:00

What with the holiday season approaching, many of us will face the chore of managing our body weight. In 2003, I had been able to lose 30 lbs by thinking my body as a system and making abrupt changes to its inputs--food intake and exercise intensity. Here’s how.

Being an engineer by training, I thought of the human body as a system that takes in food and exercise and produces a body weight as output. In 2003, after seeing a show on public television (“The Perricone Prescription”), I decided to change my diet -- primarily by replacing the carbohydrate (rice) with lots of vegetables, mixed leaves, etc. and by starting the day with a hearty breakfast soup. I also stopped drinking coffee with creme and sugar, and switched to black tea. At the same time, I increased my exercise level abruptly -- from running on treadmill at 12 minute a mile pace to 10-minute miles for 30+ minutes. I made sure that the volume of food at each meal (with mostly veggies now) was similar to what I ate before so that I didn’t feel hungry and could sustain this diet.

As you can see in the graphics, my actions caused two abrupt changes in the body’s inputs -- somewhat less food and somewhat more exercise, both at the same time. Consequently, the body weight did drop and, for those of you with engineering background, the body behaved in a manner similar to many systems -- the weight dipped down and up and gradually settled at a steady level. I lost over 30 lbs this way.

The problem, however, is that the body is not a dumb system -- it has a mind of its own and it reacts to loss of fat etc. and, after the initial shock of weight loss, tries to preserve and regain fat and weight, even though I continued to eat and exercise about the same. So the weight does tend to creep up over time, but this seems to happen slowly over many years -- e.g., a gradual gain of 5 lbs or so over 8 years for me.

In summary, you can initiate weight change by thinking of your body as a system and making a small, but abrupt change in diet composition and exercise level. BUT the body has a mind of its own and will fight back, so it’s a constant struggle, but hopefully a pleasant one :-)

Here's some more information to help you...

Typical plates of food and bowl of hearty soup :-)

Mixed greens with grilled chicken breat

Mixed greens with salmon, avocado, and grape tomatoes

Hearty soup (veggie, bean curd, salmon, sausage)

Here are some books by Dr. Perricone that got me started... in case you want to check it out:

On speaking multiple languages

2011-11-30T02:00:00.000-05:00

On the video I spoke the following sentences in the 5 languages -- Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Spanish, and, of course, English: “My name is Naba Barkakati. I can speak in five languages.”

Just to give you a timeline of when I learned these languages... Assamese is my mother tongue, but I never learned it formally. I began speaking Bengali at 9 and all the way through age 22, but I didn’t learn it formally either. I studied Hindi in a language course in high school for 7 years. I learned English since I was 6 or 7, it was the language of instruction in school, spoke and used English in engineering school, and began speaking exclusively in English after I came to the United States, for more than 33 years now.

I started learning Spanish at age 53 and now when I speak in Spanish I am often trying to translate from English, which results in awkward sentences (hopefully, I'll learn to avoid translating with more practice). The strange thing is that for all my other languages, I am not translating thoughts from one language to another - - I just speak what I want to say and also when I hear, I just comprehend.

So, the question is how does the brain work for those languages that I learned when I was younger? Also, do we really think “in a language?' Or, are thoughts something more fundamental and not in any language. I feel like I think in English, but when I switch to languages that I learned in my childhood, I don’t seem to be translating from English. For those languages, it is as if I am able to simply switch my brain from one language to another. Anyway, I don’t have any answers to these questions, but perhaps these would be interesting research topics for someone who studies how people learn and retain languages.

Here's some more information to help you...

Although I don't really know the answers to the questions I posed, I did describe in an earlier video how I am learning Spanish, which you may find helpful for learning a new language:

Also found the following book that documents the experiences of several language learners and sounds intriguing enough to check out:

Rent an apartment when vacationing in a city

2011-11-27T02:00:00.000-05:00

After you have gone on one or two guided tours, explored some cities on your own, you may want to consider renting an apartment and use that as your home base. VRBO or vacation rental by owners is a good place to find a rental apartment for your vacation. We typically found this to be a great option for visiting cities, especially in Europe. We have rented from VRBO in Budapest, Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome, and all have turned out well.

An apartment is better than a hotel room because you typically get a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom - - there is more space than a hotel room and you can have your breakfast in the comfort of the apartment. It’s cheaper too, especially if you are traveling with family.

You can browse the VRBO website for apartments in the city you plan to visit. Look for ones in the area where you want to stay and pick one with a number of good reviews. You have to spend some time selecting the apartment and then you can typically reserve it by paying an advance through Paypal and pay the rest in cash when you arrive. Often owners will send you tips on exploring the city and also arrange for airport pickup.

Apart from the rental apartment, you’ll need to arrange your own airfare and plan an itinerary for what you plan to do during your vacation. You’ll find it helpful to have a guidebook with good maps of the city.

If the sights you want to visit require entrance tickets, you should try to buy the tickets online and save the hassle of standing in line.

You may also want to make reservations at restaurants you plan to visit. Just remember that everything is in your hands and you do what you want to do at your own pace. So you do need to spend some time planning, but typically we have found this to be the best way to explore a city on our own, at our own pace.

In future videos, I’ll give more details for some of the cities, such as Budapest, Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome, that we have already visited.

Until then, I hope you are already planning your upcoming trip :-)

Here's some more information to help you...

An alternative to VRBO is: HomeAway Vacation Rentals, (I think HomeAway, in fact, owns VRBO, but they seem to display different selections, so it's worth checking in both sites - note to myself: we have to do this in the future). And here are two more sites you can check: Vacation-Apartments.com and Flipkey.

Please see my previous blog post on exploring a city on your own (after booking air and hotel from a tour company). There I provide links to guidebooks for many different cities, including Budapest, Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome.

If want to graduate from being a renter to owning a vacation property that you can rent out (no, we don't own any such property, but thought you may be curious :-) then check out the following books:

Tags: travel, world+travel, Budapest, Barcelona, Rome, Madrid, Paris,

NBTMV - Turn on 2-step verification on your Google account

2011-11-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

In previous videos I have mentioned how important it is to turn on 2-step verification (or 2-factor authentication) on your Google account. In this three-minute video, I’ll walk you through the process because you really ought to do this.

After you turn on 2-step verification, to log into your Google account, you have to first enter your normal password and then you have to enter a verification code that Google sends to your phone. Even if someone steals your password, they’d face the additional step of having to enter the verification code before getting into your account. That;s why you should turn on 2-step verification -- to get the benefit of an extra layer of security.

To set up 2-step verification, first log into your Gmail (or Google+) account and click on your name or your profile photo on the upper right hand corner. You’ll get a Google Accounts overview page showing all the settings. Click the “Edit” link next to “Using 2-step verification”. That will take you to the page where you have to enter your current password and then you'll get the page where you can click a link to turn on 2-step verification. You’ll then go through steps where you enter a phone number to receive the verification code and test that it works. You also need to enter a backup phone number for the verification code, in case your primary phone is not available.

At this point, you should also generate the printable backup codes that you can use when you don’t have your phone or can’t use your phone. Google generates 10 backup verification codes that you should print out and carry in your wallet. In a pinch, you can use these one at a time when you need them.

For accessing Google services such as Gmail on a smartphone or a tablet or when you read Gmail using Microsoft Outlook, you have to generate and use application-specific passwords. There is a link on 2-factor authentication page for application specific passwords. You should pick a descriptive name for the application such as “Gmail on my smartphone” and then click Generate Password. Then enter that long complicated looking password (ignore the spaces) in place of your normal password. You have to enter the password only once for each application and you can always revoke a password and generate a new one.

That, in a nutshell, is how you turn on 2-step verification. If you haven't done so already, I hope you'd turn it on as soon possible.

Here's some more information to help you...

To learn a bit more about 2-step verification, see the Google support page on Getting started with 2-step verification and for more on application-specific passwords, you can: Watch the video on application-specific passwords

NBTMV - Book air and hotel, then explore city on your own

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

After you have taken one or two escorted tours and feel comfortable traveling around, you can start booking just the air and hotel from a travel company and explore the city on your own. In this video, I give you some pointers on doing this yourself.

This approach is usually good for a major city. You’d book the air and hotel from one of the same travel companies that you used for guided tours. Some offer choice of hotels at different locations for different prices, so you’d have to read up a bit and try to pick a hotel at a convenient location or just go with the lowest cost one. After you book, remember to get the visa, if you need one.

You’ll be exploring the city on your own, so you also must take care of the transfers between the airport and the hotel. You should search and see if there is a train, metro, or bus available for the trip from airport to the hotel and take it, if it’s available.

To plan for sightseeing on your own, you should get a guidebook for the city and study it a bit before you depart. If you are unsure about what to see, a good option is to take a half- or full-day city tour and get an overview of the major attractions.

Mastering the local public transportation options is also helpful. We usually take metro or tram as much as possible.

You should develop a rough itinerary as well. I typically divide the day into two halves and just allocate activities to each half-day, along with times for lunch and dinner. Remember not to cram in too much in a day. If possible buy tickets online (before departing on the trip) for any museums or other sights that require tickets. That way, you can avoid any long lines for the tickets and save some time.

We also consult Tripadvisor to find some restaurants that we may like to try. After returning from the trip, you may want to post your own reviews, as we have done in our own reviews on Tripadvisor for any hotels and restaurants we try out.

That’s about it. With a little bit of peparation, you should have a great time exploring the city of your choice on your own.

Here's some more information to help you...

You can use this approach to visit many prominent cities around the world. Here are some candidates: London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Barcelona, Madrid, Budapest, Istanbul, Prague, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and many more. Browse the Independent Vacations in Gate1Travel for more ideas. Another option is to pick a city and then look for Flight+Hotel packages on travel websites such as Expedia and Travelocity.

Pick up a travel guide for the city you plan to visit and study it before the trip. Check out the map to pick a good location for the hotel. Here are some possible travel guides:

Tags: travel, world+travel, Budapest, Barcelona, Rome, Madrid, Paris, London

Cloud computing from a user’s point of view

2011-11-16T20:43:00.001-05:00

In previous videos I had tried to explain cloud computing, its benefits and risks, and why you may want to go for a public cloud. But recently I realized that all those terms such as public vs private cloud or platform-as-a-service or software-as-a-service, are just not relevant from the user’s point of view. That’s why I wanted to provide this brief description of cloud computing from a user’s point of view.

By “user,” I mean individuals like you and I as well as organizations. As far as you and I, as individuals are concerned, we have a laptop or a tablet, or a smartphone (or all of these) with some connection to the Internet (which is the “cloud”), and all we know is that when we need our email, it’s there, when we want to upload a video or share photos with family and friends, we can do it. We don’t care how Google or Facebook manage to store all this information that millions of users upload. That’s what is cloud computing to you and I - - to get access to our email, documents, Facebook, and Google+ etc. from any Internet-connected device, when we need it.

Now, if the user is an organization, they could, for example, go to Amazon Web Services and buy whatever computing services they need - - they can get database, storage, order fulfillment, payment service, or just plain computing platforms. That’s cloud computing to a corporation - - to be able to just go to the Amazon Web Services web site and order whatever type and amount of computing services they need. That’s what cloud computing is to organizations that need more computing than just the email, documents, etc. that we, as individuals need.

In summary, from the user’s point of view, it’s cloud computing if you can go to a vendor and buy whatever computing services you need and pay for just the amounts you use. All the technical definitions with jargon such as virtualization and elasticity are just technical explanations of how the cloud computing vendors do their magic, but that’s really not important to the users. What’s important to the users are: (1) a broadband connection to the Internet and (2) access their email, documents, etc from any device.

Here's some more information to help you...

You can find my previous posts on cloud computing on this blog, but here are direct links to help you get to specific posts:

Interest in "cloud computing" over time:

Here are some interesting books related to cloud computing:

Tags: cloud+computing, virtualization, public+cloud, private+cloud

NBTMV - Create a Google+ page for your organization (or even your blog)

2011-11-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

If you are on Google+, you already know that corporations and other organizations can now have Google+ pages. Many companies such as Amazon.com, New York Times, and many more have already started putting up their Google+ pages. What you may not think about is that you can create a page for your blog or personal webpage as well. I did just that for my NBTMV blog. Here's how.

When you are viewing your Stream on Google+, you’ll see a link on the right hand side that says “Create a Google+ Page” . Clicking that link will take you to a webpage where you can create your Google+ page. For my NBTMV page, I picked the Arts and Entertainment category from the left and then, on the right side, after entering a name for the Google+ page and my blog URL nbtmv.blogspot.com , selected Blog as the category. Click Create and you’re done.

Now you can switch between your Google+ account and your Google+ page by clicking the small button under your name on the upper left corner in Google+. When you are on your Google+ page, click Get Started link on the upper left corner and you’ll see helpful suggestions for promoting your page and linking your website or blog to the Google+ page. In particular, you’ll see a link for your Google+ page, similar to this: https://plus.google.com/104988589735282319665 that you can email or tweet to all of your contacts. And click the “Get the badge” link and follow the instructions on how to put a Google+ badge such the following one for my NBTMV blog:

With this Google+ badge on your website or blog your readers will easily be able to get to your Google+ page.
That’s about it! Now all you have to do is start posting updates and news on your Google+ page. And wait for your customers or readers to circle your Google+ page :-)
Seriously though, since Google+ page just got started around Nov 7, 2011, it’s a good strategy to set up your Google+ page as soon as possible. I hope you do so and best of luck!

Here's some more information to help you...

The best source of information about Google+ Pages is Google. You can start by reading Google's official blog post on Google+ Pages, then browse this page on Introducing Pages for Google+. If you are the one maintaining your organization's web page, this Google Webmaster Tools support page provides helpful tips on Google+ Pages. I'm sure there'll be lots more helpful information and books in the future, but this should get you going for now.

NBTMV - Start your world travels with some guided tours

2011-11-12T12:23:00.001-05:00

In a previous video I mentioned that you can start your world travels with some guided or escorted tours. Here I provide some pointers to doing just that, based on our experience with guided tours originating from the United States.
The nice thing about a guided tour or escorted tour is that the tour company takes care of everything -- air travel, hotels, travel between cities, transfers from airport to hotel, all the sightseeing, and even most of the meals -- plus you have at least one English-speaking guide. It’ll be in a group setting, so you’ll meet some interesting people as well.
First thing you’d want to do is browse the guided tours offered by online travel companies such as Gate1Travel, Smartours, or others such as China Focus Travel that specialize in just one destination, China. As for where to go, you may initially think of Europe or South/Central American countries as safer choices, but it makes more sense to go to a far-off destination such as China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. because those are the trips where a fully guided tour makes everything simple. Think of the weather as well when deciding when to go. For example, it can be very hot in India, Vietnam, etc during the summer. To minimize time off from work, you may also want to pick dates that span a weekend and holiday.
After looking at the itineraries and selecting one, you can book online or call a number to book. The quoted price is usually for one or two selected departure cities such as New York or San Francisco. You have to pay extra if you depart from other cities. There are also some other extra costs such as fees and taxes. You pay some deposit up front and pay the rest sometime before the trip.
If it’s a trip to countries such as China or India, you also have to pay for the visa. You can get it yourself or through the travel company.
You do typically have a half-a day or a whole day all to yourself in major cities, so you should get a guidebook for the cities and prepare to explore a bit on your own. In future videos I’ll tell you about specific escorted tours that we took.
Hope you can get started soon!

Here are some more things to help you

Browse the offerings from some online travel companies such as: Gate1Travel, Smartours, and China Focus Travel. Note that some travel companies such as China Focus Travel specialize in tours to just one counrty, in this case, China. You may also want to read reviews by previous customers.

To budget for the trip, look up the advertised amount, then add the taxes and fees, any visa fees (for countries that require visa), and additional airfare if your departure city is different from the default offered by the tour company. You should then add the cost of any meals and estimated expenses for the days that are on your own. Also, remember to include any tips for the tour guide.

Most credit cards charge a currency conversion fee, so you should take along and use a credit card such as the one from Capital One that charge no such fees. Thebest way to get foreign currency would be to wihdraw from ATMs using your debit card. Banks would be the next best place to get foreign currency. The worst place to change currency seems to be the airport and the various currency exchange places (they often display good rates, but charge huge commissions).

Here are some books that may help you plan for that one or half-a-day when you are on your own or on overcoming the inevitable jet lag:

Tags: travel, world+travel, China, India, guided+tour, escorted+tour, Guatemala, Kenya

Why public cloud

2011-11-06T20:57:00.000-05:00

In previous videos I discussed what is cloud computing, why it’s important to consider as an option, and what are some of the risks.

Because of the risks, especially those relating to security and loss of control over where data resides, your organization may prefer the private cloud option, which, as I have said previously, is still a good option that provides you with the benefits of reduced number of physical machines along with lower electricity and cooling needs, as well as needing fewer staff to administer the machines.

However, unless your organization has hundreds of thousands of employees, a private cloud is not going to give you the cost savings that come from the economies of scale that public clouds enjoy.

To implement the private cloud, you’ll need upfront investment to virtualize your servers and add the software needed to operate it as a cloud. You are not going to just pay for what computing resources you need - - you basically still have to maintain the systems you need for your worst-case computing load.

Some go as far as to say that a private cloud is not a cloud at all because a cloud should have “elasticity” - - meaning you can create new virtual machines on demand and shut them down when you don’t need them. A private cloud cannot easily provide this elasticity, unless it’s for a huge number of employees.

With a public cloud, you can truly pay for computing as you go - - just buy what you need, when you need it. That’s why, unless you have hundreds of thousands of employees or information that’s very sensitive (like military information), you have to consider public clouds to get the benefits of cloud computing. If that’s not acceptable, you can consider a community cloud suitable for your organization. For example, government agencies could opt for a government community cloud where you could at least get some economies of scale.

Here's some more information to help you

Please see my previous blog posts on what is cloud computing, why you should consider it, and some risks of cloud computing.

Here are some books on cloud computing that you may consider:

Tags: cloud+computing, virtualization, public+cloud, private+cloud

Why I love Google+

2011-11-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

By now, I have posted a number of 3-minute videos (TMV), but, today I wanted to pause and tell you why I love Google+. You see, I won’t be talking to you in this video if it were not for my joining Google+.

What I like best about Google+ is its integration of mail, calendar, documents, photos, and much more. When I get into Google+, I already have access to all of these applications right from the toolbar.That plus when I log into Google+, I can get to everything with the same login. I was already using Gmail with 2-factor authentication (please, do turn on two factor authentication for improved security, just go to your Account Settings page -- if you are on Gmail or Google+, click on your name on the upper right corner and select Account Settings to configure it - - the upshot is that when you log in, after you enter your password, you also must enter a verification code that Google sends to your phone via a text message).

Anyway, I began by sharing some photos with family on Google+ and then discovered that I could post videos on Youtube with the same login. After posting a few vacation videos, I thought why not make some short videos and share some of what I know with others. It was fun getting started with the videos that I am calling "Naba Barkakati's three minute videos" or NBTMV for short :-)

.After posting a few videos, I realized I need to provide some more helpful information, especially names of books or links to websites that I couldn’t possibly provide in the videos themselves. So I got into Blogger and, again, surprise, I could log in with my GMail login. So, I went ahead and created a blog - - nbtmv.blogspot.com and posted each video in a separate blog posting together with the transcript and other helpful information. Of course, I also began sharing these videos on Google+.

Everything was so painless that in no time at all, I had gone from a beginner on Google+ to creating my own 3-minute videos and posting them on my blog, and, of course sharing them on Google+, all of this facilitated by the single login access to mail, calendar, documents, photos, videos, blogs, and much more.

That, in a nutshell, is why I love Google+ and will continue to use it. I hope you agree and will join me on Google+.
(In my video, I didn't mention anything about circles, but I do love to be able to share my posts with selected groups of people based on my circles, but all the productivity applications in one place takes the cake for me :-)

Here's some more helpful information

To keep up with news about Google+ and some interesting posts, check out posts with the Google+ label on the official Google blog.

There are already a bunch of books on Google+, including one Dummies guide that will be published around mid-November 2011. Here are the links to a few books:

Tags: Google+, 2-factor authentication, Gmail, Google Docs, Youtube, Blogger

How you can ease into world travels

2011-11-03T08:41:00.001-04:00

You know how we all say that we’ll travel the world after we retire. Well, why wait until retirement. Once you are an empty nester, as my wife and I are, you can begin easing into your world travels. I am going to tell you how we got started and, hopefully, you can do the same.

Since we are talking about the world travel, let’s start by looking at a world map.

Until about 2008, we mostly traveled within United States and at most Canada, Mexico, and, perhaps cruises in the Caribbean. Since then, we have already been to a number of destinations in Asia and Europe, including China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Guatemala, Hungary, Netherlands, Spain, Italy. It's not exactly world travel, but we got started.

We were initially apprehensive about traveling to far off places, but, after much searching on the Internet, we decided to sign up for an 11-day guided tour to China from a company called chinafocustravel.com That turned out well, so we went on an 8-day India tour offered by another online travel company smartours.com and a 6-day Guatemala trip, booked with gate1travel.com. This is a good way to start getting your feet wet.

Next, we decided to take some trips where we either booked the air and hotel from the travel company or booked air and hotel ourselves AND explored the city on our own. We went to Amsterdam, Holland and Istanbul, Turkey, this way and it was even more delightful to be able to manage our own itinerary. So this could be your next stepping stone.

Then we found vrbo.com - - through which you can rent apartments in major cities for as little as 3 days to as many more as you need. So we began to book the air, reserve the apartment from VRBO, and then tour selected cities on our own. We went to Budapest, Hungary, Barcelona and Madrid in Spain, and Rome and Florence in Italy, this way. This approach was even better, especially if you travel with more family members because an apartment is more convenient that hotel rooms. This would be our preferred method of travel to European cities.

Finally, as an example of travel to a more exotic location, we recently successfully planned and completed a family trip to Vietnam and Cambodia by working with a tour company in Vietnam to create a personalized itinerary.

So, in a nutshell, start with guided tours from well-reviewed online companies, explore some cities on your own, then use vrbo.com to find your own apartment and visit cities. Finally, consider trips to exotic locales by arranging tours with local tour companies.

In future videos, I’ll provide more details for each of these approaches.

Here are some more things to help you...

For a number of different guided tours to China, consider China Focus. They specialize in tours to China from the U.S. The offerings change and prices vary some depending on the season.

For guided tours to India, we went with Smartour's Incredible India tour, but you have similar options available from Gate1Travel as well.

And some travel guides for China and India... if you cosider one of these countries as your first guided tour destination:

A few photos to entice you :-)

Beijing - Forbidden City

Great Wall

Beijing - Temple of Heaven

Taj Mahal

Jaipur - Amber Fort - Elephant Ride

Jaipur

Tags: travel, world+travel, China, India

Technorati claim token 348Y4BJ2MPP7

NBTMV with update on video recording setup

2011-10-29T22:00:00.000-04:00

Here's the latest on lighting for my low-cost video recording setup at home. I think the colors are acceptable now, with Daylight CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) bulbs and Automatic White Balance (AWB) setting of my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 camera.

Here are some more things to help you...

To catch up on my previous post about my video recording setup at home, see NB-TMV: How I record videos at home where I also provide links to things you may need for a similar video recording studio at your home.

Here's a sketch showing the layout of my current setup:

Tags: video+recording, video blog, 3-point lighting

NBTMV on Learning Spanish (Especially Speaking)

2011-10-29T21:56:00.000-04:00

I explain my approach to learning Spanish, especially how I overcame my fear of speaking in a new language. Just listen to the video :-) To see my video in Spanish, explaining the same method, please see the previous blog: NB-TMV - un método para aprender un idioma nuevo.

Here are some more things to help you...

I relied on Pimsleur lessons for the first step-- Listen and Repeat - -to learn Spanish pronunciation. They had CDs, each 30-minutes long, where a native speaker speaks and, where appropriate, pauses and lets you repeat what was said. The method recommends going through only one CD per day and I could do this on my commute to work. I went through three levels - - 90 CDs - - which you may consider doing to get an overall feel for the pronunciations plus learn some common phrases and words along the way. This would take 6 months or more to complete. You can check out Pimsleur on Amazon and then see if you want to invest in it or try borrowing the CDs from your local library. By the way, if you want to just check out the Pimsleur method, you can start with the lower-cost first book+CD, called goSpanish. I had used something similar and then committed to the whole series after I liked the approach.

The other option is Rosetta Stone. I had tried this for French (which I gave up after some time) and I think it'd work as well, but this requires to complete the lessons on a computer.

For the Listen and Understand step, which you should do continuously, search for local Spanish radio stations or watch Telemundo or Univision on cable. To begin speaking Spanish, you should consider spending some time (at least a week) at an immersion class in a nearby Spanish-speaking country such as Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, etc. I spent a week at the Christian Spanish Academy in Antigua, Guatemala - -that school was very good and affordable (and Antigua is a very nice town to visit). I stayed thw week with a host family (see photo below). Now, I continue weekly lessons over their elearncsa program.

Naba Barkakati with other students and host family in Anitigua, Guatemala

There are even books that you can consult to learn about Spanish immersion programs such as the one shown below for Mexico. I have also listed below some books that I have purchased for my own use and that I have found useful for learning Spanish vocabulary and grammar. Believe me, once you can speak some, you won't mind putting some effort into learning more vocabulary and polishing up on your grammar.

By the way, to check verb conugations or translate words online, I use the Spanishdict web site.

Tags: Spanish, español, spanish+immersion, language

Cómo aprender un idioma nuevo

2011-10-29T21:54:00.000-04:00

Como tú adivinas, no soy hispanohablante nativo. En verdad comencé a aprender español hace dos años y vencí el miedo a hablar desde hace enero 2011.

Todavia estoy aprendiendo y estudiando la gramatica español pero quiero hacer este video para demonstrar lo que bueno es el método que yo usé para llegar a este nivel donde puedo hablar contigo en español. Creo que es una buena manera de aprender un idioma nuevo, especialmente aprender a hablar en ese idioma.

Bueno. Numero uno. Comienza por escuchar un hablante nativo del idioma que tu quieres aprender, y, muy importante - repite lo que tu escuchas. Es mejor para ganar buen pronunciación en ese idioma. Puedes usar lecciónes como Pimsleur o Rosetta Stone, o también lo que tú encontras cuando buscas en la Red.

Numero dos. Escucha la radio o ve las programas de televisión y trata de entender lo que dicen. Es necesario para mejorar tu abilidad para entender lo que hablantes nativos dicen cuando se hablan muy rápido. Recuerda eso - si tú no entiendes lo que dice, no puedes continuar una conversación.

Numero tres. Comienza a hablar en ese idioma con algunas hablantes de ese idioma. Es natural que tú tienes miedo para comenzar a hablar. En mi opinión, asistir a una escuela en el pais donde se hablan ese indioma (que tú quieres aprender) es un buen idea para vencer el miedo a hablar.

Y, finalmente, debes que estudiar la gramatica, leer, y escribir también. Por eso, puedes tomar unas clases. Recuerda que es posible para tomar las clases por Internet.

Aqui es el resumen de mi metódo. Uno - escucha y repite. Dos - Escucha y entiende. Tres - Habla en el idioma nuevo. Y, por supuesto estudia gramatica y vocabulario también.

Espero que puedas utilizar este método para aprender un nuevo idioma - tal vez Inglés.

Bueno, antes de me voy, te pido perdon para algunos errores en este video. Todavía tengo que aprender mucho mas español.

Hasta luego y ¡Que le vaya bien!

Aqui está unas cosas para ayudarte más

Puedes usar el método Pimsleur que he usado para aprender la pronunciación. Otra opción es usar Rosetta Stone.

Tags: Spanish, español, spanish+immersion, language

What are some of the risks of Cloud Computing

2011-10-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

In other videos I explained what cloud computing is and why it’s useful. In this video, I want to mention some of the risks of cloud computing - - things that could potentially go wrong and affect your organization when you use cloud computing. Of course, if you implement a cloud in your own data center for your organization’s use, then the risks are similar to ones you already have - - security, privacy, disaster recovery, etc.

However, if you are planning to use cloud services provided by a third party, then you need to think of any new risks that may apply to your situation and that’s what I’ll cover.

First, the obvious risks - - security and privacy risks because of not knowing whether the vendor’s cloud is secure, that the staff who manages the facilities are trustworthy, that privacy protections are up to the level required by law.

Second, we have some management and oversight risks - - relating to potential lack of control in figuring out where data is stored and processed and how to get it back, if you change provider. The oversight risk is the possibility that your auditor cannot get access to the cloud provider’s systems to check them out.

Third, there are some technical risks, relating to lack of standard definitions of what a cloud service is, how are fees set, how to move data from one cloud to another, whether you can get reliable performance...

And, finally, a fourth set of risks may be relating to potential foreign laws and regulations that apply to your data because of where the cloud service is located.

Anyway, this is not an exhaustive list, but the point is that you should think what risks apply to you and then manage them, as is the prudent thing to do. Some risks already have mitigation approaches such as putting things in the contract and some have ongoing activities to help business mitigate those risks.

And, even if there is no mitigation for some, you may still decide to accept the risks and forge ahead with cloud computing. After all, that’s how we get the good things in life... by taking risks.

Here are some more things to help you...

Please see my previous post on "What is Cloud Computing" - - there I have a slide presentation on cloud computing that I used when I gave a talk in Seoul, Korea in Nov 2010 and the 30-minute video of the talk as well.

You may also want to read my post on "Why you should consider Cloud Computing as an option"

Tags: cloud+computing, virtualization, public+cloud, private+cloud

Why you should consider cloud computing as an option

2011-10-29T21:44:00.000-04:00

You might wonder why is “cloud” a big deal. First, and foremost, if you have a collection of servers for your business, once you use virtualization, you’ll be able to support many virtual machines on a small number of physical machines - - some experts suggest that for each “core” on an Intel or AMD processor, you can have 3 to 5 virutal machines. Many servers are 4- or 6-core, so you could have anywhere from 12 to 30 virtual machines on one server, but you’d need to have lots of memory and storage as well. Nevertheless, the ability to run lots of virtual machines on a physical server means that you reduce the number of physical servers and that translates to less space, less electricity, less heat, and less messy cables, etc. So these benefits make a cloud an worthwhile proposition for businesses, even if you were to convert your current server farm to a cloud.

If you can move on to buying the cloud services from a third party, the benefits are even more. Now you can simply buy the computing power you need, without having to spend money up front. You can benefit from the economy of scale, the cloud vendor would typically have better redundant power and network connectivity that you could afford. Even security may be enhanced because the cloud provider can afford to hire more experienced information security staff and apply patches across all virtual machines more efficiently and promptly than you could.

You’d notice that I have a lot of “may” and “could” in justifying the benefits of cloud, that’s because you have to check it out for yourself to see if it meets the needs of your business. What you don’t want to do is dismiss cloud as an option because of knee-jerk reaction from others inside your organization who may bring up risks relating to security, data ownership, and many other issues as reasons why you shouldn’t go the cloud. All of these may be valid risks, but they also have equally valid solutions that mitigate the risk enough for you to take the plunge. The savings in IT costs alone make it worth taking the step to, at least consider cloud services as an option.

Here are some more things to help you...

What is Cloud Computing

2011-10-29T21:39:00.000-04:00

Cloud computing has become a popular buzzword, but many managers find it confusing. Those old enough to remember time share computing tend to say, “oh, it’s just like timeshare systems we had in old days,” but cloud computing is more than that. It’s w-a-a-y more than lots of users logging into a mainframe through green-screen terminals.

You can understand “cloud computing” better by focusing on just the basics. Let’s start with the physical computer. Whether it’s a laptop, desktop, or a rack-mounted server, at its heart you have the processor, memory, storage, and network connection. On that physical computer you had an operating system -- Windows, Linux, etc. - - and many applications - - email, word processing, spreadsheet, databases.

Along comes the concept of “virtualization” - - the idea that instead of just running multiple applications on a physical computer, you can create “virtual machines”, each with its own virtual collection of memory, storage and network connection, RUNNING an operating system and set of applications. Thanks to the virtualization software, each virtual machine will be able to operate as if it had its own memory, storage, and network connection (or multiple network connections, for that matter).

So virtualization gives you the ability to run multiple “virtual machines” on a single physical machine. You can, in fact, have multiple virutal machines running different operating systems (Windows, Linux, what have you) irrespective of what operating system is running on the underlying physical system. The virtualization is possible through software, for example, VMware or .

There is another element as well - - management software that enables a system administrator to easily create virtual machines and “provision” them - - allocate memory, storage, install operating system etc. on the virutal machines.

Once you have the virtualization software with the management software to easily provision virtual machines, throw in Internet connectivity and you have a cloud - - the term is used because in network diagrams, the Internet is typically depicted by a cloud. You could say “virtualization + great Internet connectivity” = cloud computing - - BECAUSE now users can access your computing resources from anywhere and make use of the capabilities.

All the other terms you hear about cloud computing - - relating to types of service such as infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, or software as a service or <insert your favorite application name> as a cloud… AND terms relating to how they are deployed (read “for whom”) such as public cloud, community cloud, or government cloud or hybrid cloud or, again, insert <your favorite qualifer> cloud (such as Joe’s cloud or Jane and Mary’s cloud) are just qualfiers... at the heart, each must be a “cloud” as I explained earlier -- use virtualization, be able to create and provision virtual machines easily, and have great Internet connectivity.

Here are some more things to help you..

I had presented a talk on cloud computing (it was about IT and Network convergence, which, when I began developing became a presentation on cloud computing) that you may find helpful Below are the slides and then I have the 30-minute video in two parts (had to split into two 15-minute parts) of my talk based on the presentation.

Naba barkakati it solutions for new business - keynote - kisdi-global-conference 2010

View more presentations from nbarkakati

After you skim through the slides (there are only 15 slides :-) you can watch the videos below:

Part 1 of KISDI talk Nov 2010

Part 2 of KISDI talk Nov 2010

Tags: cloud+computing, virtualization, public+cloud, private+cloud

How I record videos at home

2011-10-29T21:37:00.000-04:00

By now you’ve seen a few of the videos I have posted and I think I should briefly describe how I record these at home. That way, you can do the same, if you want to...

You have probably noticed how I raise my hand to turn the camera off at the end of my videos. That’s because there is no one in the room helping me with the recording. Luckily the digital amera I am using - - a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 model - - seems to work out best at arm’s length, so I can reach the start/stop button easily.

Besides the digital camera, which I already had, all I had to do is spend about $40 to buy were three clamp-on lights from the local hardware store. I bought two 10-inch ones for the Key and Fill lights and one 8-inch one for the backlight - - the Key light with a 100W equivalent Compact Fluorescent Light bulb is at 45 degrees to the left in front of me, the Fill light with a 60W equivalent bulb is at 45 degrees to my right, again, in front. The backlight is slightly behind me, to my left. I clipped on white handkerchiefs in front of each light because the light was too bright otherwise. I think the light is still not that great, as one of my friends already told me, so I plan to tweak it either through camera settings or by moving the lights back some more.

For the backdrop, I clipped on some dark sheets on a bookshelf behind me. I sit on a bench and put the camera on a tripod on a small desk placed in front of me.

Behind the camera desk, I put a small LCD TV facing me that I connected the camera’s Audio-Video output to the TV. That way, the TV becomes my monitor to check on what the video looks like. The camera displays the recording time, so that display on the monitor also cues me when my time’s up.

With all that set, I sit down, turn the camera on, make sure I appear centered in the monitor, then press the Start button and start recording... that’s all there is to it. :-)

Here are some more things to help you get going...

Here are links to some the items I used for my setup. Of course, you probabaly already have a digital camera that can capture video, but, if not, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 was great... or consider the newer DMC-LX5... and you may want to get an AC adapter (model number DMW-AC5PP) so that the battery does not run out while you record video. And you need a high-capacity SD memory card to record those videos as well.
You know, with Amazon's free shipping for orders over $25, I would have definitely ordered what I needed from Amazon instead of running around local hardware stores :-)

Naba Barkakati's three-minute vidoes (NBTMV)

2011-10-29T21:35:00.000-04:00

I have started posting 3-minute videos on Youtube on various topics. In my first posting, I described what I intend to do:

I started this blog to post the transcripts and other helpful information related to each 3-minute video, as well as the video itself. Hope you enjoy the convenience :-)

To learn more about my video recording setup at home, see NB-TMV: How I record videos at home